1 CLOUD GATE DANCE THEATRE: The acclaimed Taiwanese performance group incorporates everything from ballet and modern dance to meditation and martial arts in its works that embrace old and new, East and West. The troupe comes to UC Berkeley Jan. 22-23 to perform the evening-length work “Rice,” said in promotional materials to be a “human drama of environmental devastation and resurrection through the life cycle of a humble plant.”

2 WELLINGTON INTERNATIONAL UKULELE ORCHESTRA: What’s better than being serenaded by a ukulele player or two? How about an entire orchestra of them? That the idea behind the New Zealand-based Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, cofounded by “Flight of the Conchords'” co-creator Bret McKenzie. The outfit, consisting entirely of ukulele players (plus one bass player) delivers covers of pop hits, some New Zealand traditional music and, not surprisingly, a big dose of cheeky humor. The outfit is heading to Northern California for a handful of shows.

3 SYMPHONY SILICON VALLEY: Having just delivered a live accompaniment to the swashbuckling thriller “Raiders of the Lost Ark” last week, the orchestra returns to more traditional fare this weekend. Conductor Tatsuya Shimono leads SSV through a program of Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, D. 485, Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 26 and Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.

4 CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY: Music director Donato Cabrera leads the Walnut Creek orchestra through an “American Roots” program featuring works by Stravinsky, Bernstein, Kurt Weill and Gershwin. Pianist Charlie Albright is a featured soloist.

5 “THE 1960S REVISITED”: Forget the adage that if you remember the 1960s you weren’t really there. This three-day festival hosted by the California Historical Society in San Francisco starting Thursday brings in people who were there and are willing in able to share some unique views on what it all meant. Discussions, screenings and more will explore the impact and legacy of such touchstones the Grateful Dead and The Trips Festivals, and anchoring it all is a new exhibit running Jan. 21-May 1 exploring Lawrence and Anna Halperin’s landmark workshops that sought to fuse art and environmental awareness.

6 YAMATO — THE DRUMMERS OF JAPAN: This 17-member taiko drumming outfit delivers an exuberant form of traditional Japanese music with a contemporary flavor and a high-octane stage show. They come to Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium this weekend for two shows.

7 AMBROSIA: The SoCal band is best known for such 1970s hits “Holdin’ On To Yesterday” and “How Much I Feel” but should be given credit for being one of the early bands to embrace and merge a wide range of styles, from psychedelic rock to AM-radio pop to world music to jazz. Although original lead singer David Pack is no longer in the band (Ambrosia also once claimed Bruce Hornsby as a member), many of the musicians have stuck around since Ambrosia formed some 40 years ago. The band comes to Pleasanton’s Firehouse Arts Center this week for two shows.

8 CHARGED PARTICLES: This band led by San Francisco sax man Todd Dickow is known to dabble in straight-ahead jazz, Latin and funk with equal aplomb. On Jan. 28, the group comes to the Saratoga jazz joint Cafe Pink House to perform a tribute to sax great Michael Brecker.

9 HOWIE GELB: The singer-songwriter-musician is best known for the alt-country/rock outfit Giant Sand, which he has manned with a revolving cast of musicians since the 1980s, and which has produced a deep catalog of freewheeling sonic scripts that has been compared to everything from the Meat Puppets to Cowboy Junkies to Pavement. On Jan. 24, Gelb comes to The Chapel in San Francisco’s Mission to perform solo, highlighting an upcoming release titled “Future Standards.”

10 HENRY KAISER: Here’s a one-of-a-kind show. Kaiser is not just a talented musician, having collaborated with artists ranging from Richard Thompson to Jerry Garcia to Herbie Hancock, he’s also a noted deep-sea diver who recently returned from his 11th trip with the U.S. Antarctic Program working beneath the ice of the Ross Sea. On Jan. 27, he comes to Don Quixote’s International Music Hall in Felton to deliver a show featuring his deft guitar stylings along with tales and video highlights of his Antarctic adventures.

Randy McMullen is the arts and entertainment editor for Bay Area News Group. He has worked in the features department since joining the organization's Contra Costa Times in 1992. Before that he worked at newspapers in Syracuse, Middletown and Watertown, NY. He also has a hand in the organization's celebrity coverage and occasionally does theater reviews. He is an incurable pop culture junkie who knows more about Taylor Swift's ex-boyfriends than you ever will.

For those who find themselves missing the sight of ice and skates now that the Winter Olympics are over, good news is on the horizon. A certain Canadian company is coming to town at the end of the month with plenty of skaters and gymnasts to put on a show featuring acrobatics on the ice and in the air. The...